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dizzylizzy182
Reviews
American Outlaws (2001)
Entertaining!
I admit, this movie caught my attention because of Colin Farrell. A long time fan of this actor, I was intrigued to see him as Jesse James. I had read good and bad reviews of this movie, but figuring I'd see for myself, I shelled out $3.00 at the local rental store and took it home to watch it.
And after seeing it, decided I liked it. I can see why some people wouldn't, it being a rather cliched story and parts of it slow, but I appreciated the humor (mostly friendly camaraderie-style banter), the action sequences, and admittedly, Colin Farrell and Gregory Smith weren't bad to look at, either. Overall it was a good story, even if it is an unrealistic portrayal of the James gang (albeit a much better-looking one). :)
Don't Look Behind You (1999)
Utter crap
This movie is pure and utter CRAP. Do not see this if you have read the book of the same name by Lois Duncan. Read the book instead.
The movie is okay for, oh, the first ten minutes or so. And then, you realize the kids are brats, the mother is a brat grown up, and the dad is the only one who has the safety of his family in mind and has a brain bigger than a bird's. And then hell breaks lose.
I couldn't even watch this movie all the way through on TV. I turned it off because it made me wince. I definitely recommend picking up the book by Lois Duncan if you can.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
I was mystified, but maybe I was the only one!
First of all, to understand how excited I was, you have to understand this: I was raised on Star Wars. Star Wars is the first movie that I can remember seeing. I'm afraid that I am unable to give an unbiased review, so I'm just going to gush about what I loved. Which was just about everything. :D The following contains spoilers, you have been warned...
I like Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson. This movie hasn't lessened my impossibly high regard for them. I was mega-pleased to see Christopher Lee (I sat in my seat for ten minutes thinking, "Who is he, I know I've seen him somwhere else."), and I think I'm absolutely in love with Hayden Christiansen. (Remember, I am sixteen.) Natalie Portman doesn't impress me as far as Star Wars movies go, she was better in "Where The Heart Is".
I thought the best part was how things began to fall together. We see the beginning of the Clone Wars, the beginning of the romance between Anakin and Padme, and how Luke is related to Owen and Beru, which I personally think is the neatest part. And Watto is as greasy as ever, I see. When Anakin left to find his mother, and he left on the speeder...combined with the music, I was getting goose bumps, and that was NOT the premature theatre air conditioning! And I cried twice (I thought I was going to cry more, with the doomed romance thing. I was a wreck at the end of Moulin Rouge and Shakespeare in Love); once when Anakin's mother died and once right before they went into that arena and they kissed. I'm a sucker for romance.
I was impressed with the Obi-Wan/Anakin dynamic. We can certainly see that Anakin is impatient, and has a lot of frustration built up in him. This comes through at times (i.e. on Tatoine [er, sp?] after his mother dies), but sometimes his impetousness and quick temper serves them well. And everything starts to come together. The clones. Stormtroopers. Stormtroopers. Clones. Anakin is also well on his way to the Dark Side. Sniffle.
Oh, but the movie was not without humor! Obi-Wan's, "Why do I have the feeling you'll be the death of me?" was the first thing I laughed at. We must have been in a theatre full of people who haven't seen Star Wars before, because my mother, my sister, and I were the only ones laughing. Some lines were all in the delivery. "We came to rescue you." Obi-Wan looks up at his chains. "Good job!" That couldn't've been better IMNSHO. And C-3PO's puns consisting of "This is such a drag!" and "I'm beside myself!" were a scream (well, to us three), and Anakin's "I've got a bad feeling about this," was absolutely a classic. And in the factory, when Anakin's light sabre was cut off, and he said, "Oh no, not again... Obi-Wan's going to kill me!" was great.
Speaking of humor (or, in this case, lack thereof), Jar-Jar only had a small part in this movie, thank the Lord. I swear, he's going to be the death of them all, whether he kills them with his annoying babbling or by moving to give the Chancellor (Palpantine, *cough*) full power. Darnit.
The Geonosis battle scene was absolutely amazing. I was rather pleased to see female Jedi among the troops. :) That was fun. I was impressed with the battle scenes, period. Geonosis, Jango and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and machines, etc. But there was something about Yoda riding in on that ship with the clones that made me think "Large and in charge!" Before that, when it was just the three fighting the... er, things that were supposed to kill them was interesting. And I also felt sort of bad for Boba after Jango Fett got his head lopped off by Mace Windu.
The shock value in the battle in the hangar between Anakin (he was SMOKING after Dooku did that electric thing to him [after which I commented "He's got to do a lot of that this year, hasn't he?"]), Obi-Wan, and Dooku was amazing. My jaw was hanging the entire time. I gasped a bit when Obi-Wan was wounded out of fighting, cheered when Anakin started fighting with two light sabres (absolutely loved that part, and the lighting was WONDERFUL), and gasped rather loudly when he got his arm sliced off. But Yoda made the entire thing worth it. You are always hearing about how Yoda was a great warrior and swordsman, now seeing that come to life was just great.
Another interesting thing (I'm just full of them, eh?) was the generation of the Jedis. You were finally able to put the Master and Apprentice Jedi in a long line with Yoda down to Anakin (and even Luke, in a way).
My cardinal rule is to never read a movie review before I go into a theater and see a movie. I'm not a movie critic, I don't go to nitpick and point out flaws and say that the CGI sucked or the acting was bad (although I will say that script writing is not George Lucas's strong point), I go for the story, and always with an open mind. I did that for this one, and I wasn't disappointed.
Michael Collins (1996)
Mixed Emotions
As an American with Irish ancestors and an interest in Irish history, I was very interested to see this movie. I am also a fan of Liam Neeson and Alan Rickman, so that definitely helped me in my selection on that nondescript Saturday night!
Upon viewing this film, I had a vague idea of the Irish history of this time period, the Dail Eireann (I know I probably just butchered that spelling, many apologies), and was hoping to get a better understanding. I did understand it better, and I enjoyed the action with Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Stephen Rae, and Aidan Quinn.
My only problems with the movie was that I wasn't sure how factual it was, and Julia Roberts's character. I don't know if Kitty Kiernan was a real person or not (my guess is not) but I'm an American who lives in practically the middle of nowhere and that accent of hers made me cringe (a bit like Brad Pitt's in "The Devil's Own", but that's another story) at times. But it seemed like her character served no other purpose than to get Michael Collins and Harry Boland on opposite sides of the Civil War, making it personal rather than political like I would have preferred it.
Overall, I would say its a good movie. If you're looking for a documentary, you are most likely not going to want to watch this. But this is a good quality film that most people would probably enjoy. One thing, this isn't a movie I would let kids watch, obviously with the 'R' rating, mostly because of the violence, I would say
Alice in Wonderland (1985)
One of my favorites
This TV miniseries has been one of my favorites for a long time. My grandmother recorded it just after I was born, and I have been watching it and enjoying it ever since, even now when I'm sixteen. I sing along with all the songs, and my brother and I developed the hilarious habit of yelling, "Mazeltov!" (Mazel Tov?) everytime the cook broke a dish. This is a great TV miniseries and should be replayed on TV again (so I can get a better version, the tape tends to wear down over time ;)
Full House (1987)
Was good, but gets old fast
Full House was a good show, I'll admit that I liked it while it was on, and I still like to watch it now and again. But the jokes get old fast, and it becomes very predictable, very fast. All of the characters (and I do mean all) were stereotyped, and played that stereotype to the max.